Pregnant and Active: Exercise Tips That Make a Difference

In this episode of The Pulling Curls Podcast, Hilary Erickson chats with fitness expert Kaleigh Cohen about the benefits of exercise during pregnancy. They delve into personal stories, tips for staying active, and specific exercises to make labor and recovery easier. Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast or just trying to stay healthy during your pregnancy, this episode offers valuable insights and motivation. Tune in to learn more about integrating exercise into your pregnancy routine!

Find it here on Apple or Spotify Podcasts

Big thanks to our sponsor The Online Prenatal Class for Couples — if you’re looking to get prepared for birth, look no further. It is truly the best option for you.

Today’s guest is Kaleigh Cohen. Kaleigh has two YouTube channels, Kaleigh Cohen Cycling & Kaleigh Cohen Strength. She creates indoor cycle & strength programs that will transform you into an unstoppable force.

Links for you:

Timestamps:

00:00 Pulling Curls podcast featuring Kaleigh Cohen Strength.
04:43 Exercise improved pregnancy and postpartum recovery significantly.
08:43 Ensure clearance, do what feels good, avoid discomfort.
12:46 Start small, verify sources, and stay consistent.
16:12 Squats open pelvis, relieve hip and back.
19:17 Exercise during pregnancy boosts happiness, stay tuned.

Keypoints:

• Hilary Erickson discusses the benefits and importance of exercise during pregnancy.
• Guest Kaleigh Cohen, a fitness YouTube personality, shares her personal experiences with exercising throughout her three pregnancies.
• Kaleigh is currently 37 weeks pregnant and still actively filming workout content.
• Key benefits of pregnancy exercise include lessening the severity of gestational diabetes and potentially reducing birth trauma.
• Hilary recalls how fitness advice during pregnancy has evolved over the years, highlighting increased encouragement for physical activity.
• Kaleigh emphasizes starting small, such as with five-minute walks, for those with low energy or limited time.
• Discussion about the importance of consulting healthcare providers and physical therapists to tailor exercise routines safely during pregnancy.
• Exercises like squats and hip thrusts are highlighted for their benefits in preparing the body for labor and easing typical pregnancy discomforts.
• Kaleigh shares tips on motivating oneself to exercise, including focusing on the end results and the positive feelings post-workout.
• Hilary and Kaleigh both advocate for practical and flexible approaches to staying active, ensuring expectant mothers listen to their bodies and adjust workouts as needed.

Producer: Drew Erickson

Transcript

[00:00:00.970] – Hilary Erickson

Hey, guys. Welcome back to the Pulling Curls Podcast. Today on episode 248, we are talking about exercise in pregnancy.

[00:00:09.730] – Hilary Erickson

Hi, I’m Hilary, a serial overcomplicator. I’m also a nurse, mom to three, and the curly head behind Pulling Curls and the pregnancy nurse. This podcast aims to help us stop overcomplicating things and remember how much easier it is to keep things simple. Let’s smooth out those snarls with Pregnancy and Parenting Untangled, the Pulling Curls Podcast.

[00:00:30.090] – Hilary Erickson

This episode of the Pulling Curls Podcast is sponsored by the online prenatal class for couples. If you are looking to get prepared quickly, it’s the class for you. It’s going to be plenty of time to work out. So come get prepared with me in the online prenatal class for couples.

[00:00:52.640] – Hilary Erickson

I am super excited for today’s guest. I actually hang out with her every Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning on YouTube on her channel, Kaleigh Cohen Strength. I wanted to introduce today’s guest, Kaleigh Cohen.

[00:01:04.370] – Hilary Erickson

Hey, Kaleigh. Welcome to the Pulling Curls Podcast.

[00:01:07.010] – Kaleigh Cohen

Thank you. I am just so excited to be here with you.

[00:01:10.710] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. So last night I was getting into bed and I was like, you need to remember that she doesn’t know you, Hilary.

[00:01:18.540] – Kaleigh Cohen

I know, but sometimes when you just even chat through email, you got to get to know someone’s personality just with the way they say things. So I feel like this could be an instant friendship.

[00:01:28.930] – Hilary Erickson

It could, yes. Our emails have been great, but there are several mornings that I’ve been like, F you, Kaleigh.

[00:01:35.890] – Kaleigh Cohen

I’m sure. Sometimes I even think that myself because we have these workouts. You never know.

[00:01:42.980] – Hilary Erickson

It’s always something new. Yeah. Although I love your workouts. Just did one this morning. Anybody who’s looking for workouts, find them. She has a whole pregnancy playlist, so grab them. My favorite thing about you, because I do a lot of workouts on YouTube, is that you do look like you’re struggling sometimes.

[00:01:59.470] – Kaleigh Cohen

Oh, all the time. Yes, I do. I said, those are the workouts that I share are the workouts that I do. I don’t add anything. And that is so my workout is your workout, and I’m going to give it my all, just like I ask you to give your all. So that’s how it is.

[00:02:15.030] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. Awesome. Okay, so today we are talking about exercise in pregnancy, and I was just reading an article that was talking about how it can prevent, I don’t know that I want to say prevent gestational diabetes, but it definitely could lessen how severe it is and all.. there’s so many benefits to exercise in pregnancy. So how far along are you right now, Kaleigh?

[00:02:36.290] – Kaleigh Cohen

I am two days away from 37 weeks, but who’s really counting? That last month is the longest month of pregnancy. It’s like never-ending. I’m like, any day now. Although it’s still a little early, but yeah.

[00:02:51.440] – Hilary Erickson

I mean, 37 weeks is considered term, so I’m with you.

[00:02:54.970] – Kaleigh Cohen

Yeah. So we are almost there, but it’s actually been great. The whole time, so with the workouts and all.

[00:03:02.960] – Hilary Erickson

That’s awesome.

[00:03:04.510] – Kaleigh Cohen

Yeah. Thank you. And I will tell you, I have the benefits and have also, just like you, this is my thing. So if I can research benefits of exercise in any realm, I’m going to do it. And you’re right, I have seen so many benefits for exercise during pregnancy that have just blown me away, really.

[00:03:24.810] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. I mean, it’s really surprising. And I got to say, so my first baby is 24 years old. They really did not talk about exercise during pregnancy or with my first one. They were like, You’re a bit of a fragile flower. Maybe go on a walk.

[00:03:39.830] – Kaleigh Cohen

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, thankfully, I would even say from my first pregnancy, there were more restrictions than there are even now. So it has come a long way, just like a lot of things have, and I am so glad that it has. So now it’s just getting the news out to everyone that it is a great thing to do while you’re pregnant.

[00:04:03.310] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. Okay, so do you have benefits you want to tell me?

[00:04:06.750] – Kaleigh Cohen

Yeah, absolutely. I will share. Like I said, I was pregnant 10 years ago with our son, and for that pregnancy, I had that same mindset, Well, I don’t want to do too much. I had the clear to work out, and I was into fitness at the time, but being pregnant and working out was a place that I have never been before. I was a little bit nervous, a little a bit hesitant, and was just soaking in all the things you do when you’re pregnant, enjoying the food, the resting, all the things. With that pregnancy, it was challenging, the labor and the delivery. Then the postpartum, the recovery for that without the exercise was just on a whole new level.

[00:04:49.630] – Kaleigh Cohen

When I got pregnant again, I was a little bit nervous, but I said, I’m pretty sure if I work out this time, that’s going to help. With our daughter, which was just a few years after that, I worked out a a little bit more closer to, I would say, about 30 weeks. I was not as regular as I am now with my exercise, but a little bit better. There was such a difference in my pregnancy and then the recovery was just out of this world.

[00:05:16.490] – Kaleigh Cohen

With my son, I gained 50 pounds. With my daughter, I gained 25, 30 pounds. It was so much easier to get back into life. Well, I shouldn’t say life, back into my fitness after that. And now with this third pregnancy, I have worked out the entire time and can say that my energy levels and just the ability to stay active this whole time has been amazing. So I’m actually excited for the delivery this time to see how it changes in the recovery. So that’s my story in a nutshell for how it has made such an impact to do workouts during pregnancy.

[00:05:55.580] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, Kaleigh, first off, I have to ask, are you still filming workouts at 37 weeks?

[00:06:00.000] – Kaleigh Cohen

I am, yes.

[00:06:02.180] – Hilary Erickson

I hope you go into labor during a workout. That would be amazing.

[00:06:05.410] – Kaleigh Cohen

I know. I was like, What if my water breaks? Should I just keep going? No, that will not be a good idea.

[00:06:10.460] – Hilary Erickson

TikTok, you’re going to put that on the TikTok. That’s what you’re going to do.

[00:06:13.050] – Kaleigh Cohen

And we are done filming now. But that was actually my goal. This was my own personal goal. I didn’t really share with anyone, but that was my goal to work out. As long as I was cleared to work out and I felt good to work out, I was going to work out every day until he arrives, so still the plan.

[00:06:33.170] – Hilary Erickson

Good reminder, you should check with your provider. So I don’t hear a lot of people getting really into the fitness in the first trimester because you are bone tired. Did you find that that was problematic?

[00:06:43.970] – Kaleigh Cohen

Oh, my word. Yes, the first trimester. I was very sick. I just had morning sickness that was morning all day. Not morning all day. Hold on. That was sickness all day. It was not morning sickness. It was an all day thing.

[00:06:58.350] – Kaleigh Cohen

So it was very hard to get your energy up when you are struggling to eat anything and anything that’s going to provide you with good fuel to get through your workout. Absolutely, the first trimester was the toughest part of working out during this pregnancy.

[00:07:14.230] – Kaleigh Cohen

However, with that said, if I could work myself up or when I worked myself up to do that workout during that time, afterwards, it did make me feel a lot better. So that was the silver lining in all of the workouts during my first trimester.

[00:07:30.250] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. And then you can just tailor it to what you need, right? I think a lot of people are like, Oh, I’m going to do that full workout. But if you get mid-workout and you’re like, I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the rest of my day, then stop. Do a stretch.

[00:07:41.500] – Kaleigh Cohen

Yes, absolutely. There is nothing wrong with cutting a workout short. That’s one of the biggest things, too, during pregnancy is always listen to your body. That is a key. Whether you are used to lifting heavier weights, I have gone down quite a bit in the weight that I lift now, and I’m just glad to be doing it. Usually, I would maybe get a little discouraged, but no, the fact that if you are still doing it while you’re pregnant, drop it down, do what you need to do, and just feel good and enjoy it.

[00:08:09.780] – Hilary Erickson

I mean, to be fair, you are carrying the extra weight every single day.

[00:08:14.610] – Kaleigh Cohen

That is a very good point. Yes. So there is that as well. So that’s a really good point.

[00:08:20.570] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. But you should talk with your provider just about what’s good for exercise, what you should limit. And then I also recommend that if people are having weird aches and pain, symphysis, pubis dysfunction, whatever, go to physical therapy and ask them when you’re there, is there anything I should be avoiding in exercise? Because my pelvis split and I just kept doing prenatal yoga. And looking back, I was like, Maybe I shouldn’t have lunged, right?

[00:08:43.680] – Kaleigh Cohen

Yes, absolutely. There are some… Yes, first things first, I should have even said that, is make sure that you are cleared to exercise. And then again, that goes to the second point of doing what feels good to you. If it does not feel good, don’t do it, because we are changing so much, where our ligaments, everything is starting to stretch and loosen and doing certain exercises, like you mentioned, the lunge, anything like that can put a lot more pressure in areas that it usually wouldn’t. So that’s a very good point, is to just take it easy. And if it doesn’t feel good, don’t do it.

[00:09:19.670] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. Skip it. Take a break. Take some water during that period. I’m all about your hydration. And I would much rather drink water than do lunges, personally.

[00:09:29.020] – Kaleigh Cohen

All day.

[00:09:29.900] – Hilary Erickson

Every day. Yeah. Now, Kaleigh, in my studies, I found that people who exercise are less likely to have birth trauma. I don’t know if that is because those people tend to have maybe some more time, maybe some more financial resources, maybe are more willing to speak out because we’ve been suffering the whole time. I don’t know. Do you have thoughts on that?

[00:09:53.440] – Kaleigh Cohen

That is a really good question. Thinking on that, like I mentioned, with my first pregnancy, it didn’t work out. When I think about that, that was a lot more traumatic. Again, like I said, when I got pregnant with my daughter, I was like, Oh, my gosh, how is this going to go this time?

[00:10:09.140] – Kaleigh Cohen

But I think for me, anyway, just from a personal experience, having been able to compare those, the physical ability. I feel more capable. It’s almost my mindset going into it. I feel more capable, and I have just that strong mentality that going into my labor and all those things that I can do it, where with my son, it was exhausting almost from the very beginning. In my mind, at least for me, I just feel like with the determination that we get from our workouts and that mindset that we can get through something difficult helped set me up for a more positive experience in my second birth, and now, hopefully, into the third as well.

[00:10:54.890] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah, I think that totally makes sense. I used to have a Vietnamese doctor who would go, Hilary, you don’t know how lucky you are to have PE. I was like, What are you talking about? And I was like, Did you just say PE? Like physical education? He said, Yeah, the Vietnamese lady, they know how PE, so they can’t push.

[00:11:12.890] – Kaleigh Cohen

Oh my word. That makes-

[00:11:14.200] – Hilary Erickson

I want to apologize to everyone. For my poor Vietnamese accent, but I just wanted to tell you how he told it to me. And I was so lost when he initially told me. But he said, and it makes sense now, especially thinking about the whole birth trauma, is I grew up doing PE. I grew up doing exercises. These Asian women probably didn’t because they grew up in Vietnam, the majority of them. Maybe that is a benefit to us. So huzzah for our high school PE classes, I guess. Yeah.

[00:11:42.220] – Kaleigh Cohen

No, absolutely. That is so true because then you bring up a really good point, because just to go back to that point is, we lived in Saudi Arabia, and so I had some friends from India. One of the ladies that would come to my workout classes said that her sister can’t even vacuum the house. She has to have her husband do it because she does not do any physical activity, and she’s just not strong enough.

[00:12:03.980] – Kaleigh Cohen

So it just reminded me of her story and how she was like, I’m doing this because I want to vacuum. And I was like, That’s… First of all, you’re incredible. I get goosebumps just remembering her because she was so strong and she was so determined. But it goes back to your point that taking care of our bodies and being physically active changes a lot in our life and can really take us mentally to someplace maybe that we haven’t been before to be stronger in that area. Yeah.

[00:12:34.470] – Hilary Erickson

Okay. What tips do you have if people are like, I can’t do it. I can’t put in. I can’t put in one more thing because I know everybody’s so busy, right? And they just have zero energy. What are your tips for that?

[00:12:46.130] – Kaleigh Cohen

So start small, even if it is five minutes, and you do just start walking for those five minutes, do that. Youtube is packed with different workouts. The only thing with YouTube, always ensure that when you find someone on YouTube, just check their background, make sure that they are certified in what they’re saying they’re certified in or what they’re teaching you.

[00:13:06.840] – Kaleigh Cohen

But just start small. And when you start, sometimes I like to look at the end before I start and just thinking of the benefits that you’ll have out of it, that your baby will have out of it. And just that little bit, if you can start small, will start to grow and compound each time you do it. And sometimes you’ll get into a workout and you’re like, Okay, I’m just going to five minutes. But then that turns into 15, 20 before you know it, and you feel so good by the end. So always just think about those feel good feelings at the end and all the benefits that you are gaining from taking the time, just that short time, to do your workouts.

[00:13:45.680] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. Two thoughts. I always feel better after, and I just feel like that’s a lie. I tell myself in the morning, like morning, Hilary is like, That’s a lie. You’re going to feel worse. You’re going to feel more tired. And I’m like, If I feel more tired, I will take a nap. That’s how that’s going to work, and it’ll be fine.

[00:14:00.040] – Hilary Erickson

And then the second thing is, a lot of people are like, oh, baby doesn’t want us to be stressed out. But it’s good for baby to experience small bursts of you being stressed out, like cardiovascularly, physically, even just like you drop a knife and you’re afraid it’s going to hit your foot and your heart rate goes up a little bit. It’s good for baby to experience short bouts of stress, and people don’t know that. It’s not great for baby to experience long term stress, which working out will also help because it decreases your stress in general.

[00:14:29.190] – Kaleigh Cohen

That is true. Yes. Very good point. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:14:33.140] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. Okay, what’s your least favorite exercise to do pregnant?

[00:14:37.070] – Kaleigh Cohen

Oh, man. My least favorite exercise to do pregnant is… Oh, that is a hard one.

[00:14:46.060] – Hilary Erickson

There’s so many to choose from.

[00:14:48.500] – Kaleigh Cohen

I know. I’m thinking push-ups. Those weren’t always my least favorite to do, but my least favorite exercise to do pregnant is probably push-ups. It’s just I work so hard to get them on my toes. I know they’ll be back, but now I’m on my knees, which is fine. That’s not a big deal, but it’s just every time I go down, I can feel my tummy hit, and then I come back up. That one is the hardest one for me right now to do.

[00:15:13.030] – Hilary Erickson

I’m sure. At 37 weeks, good for you. I’m clapping. Nobody wants to hear clapping on the podcast. Okay, what’s your favorite exercise to do pregnant?

[00:15:22.770] – Kaleigh Cohen

Favorite exercise is probably… I’m going to say glute bridge. Well, it’s hip thrust now because I’m on the bench, but I love that one. That one is all around. I still feel super powerful in that one. I just love how that one works, the core, it works, the glutes, the legs, all the things. So that’s probably my favorite one to do.

[00:15:44.610] – Hilary Erickson

That’s awesome. Okay, I just had one remembrance. I follow all these people, physical therapists, and they are talking so much about squats during pregnancy, how we sit. We’re just sitting at the computer all day or sitting. I was a labor nurse the whole time I was pregnant, so I wasn’t sitting at the computer very much. Do you have thoughts that you’ve researched or anything, exercises that can really be helpful when you get to pushing because your pelvis is so used to just sitting?

[00:16:12.900] – Kaleigh Cohen

Yes. So I have heard that squats do start to open up your pelvis. When you’re pushing, you can think about a squat when you come down. I always like to say to even get more out of your squat, instead of just standing back up, think about pushing the floor away. So you’ve got that push right there in the squat using those muscles. So I think that’s a great one. And then another one that goes along with that with squats is just to make sure that your hip flexors are loose. So you can really get into that deep squat because that is super helpful. And that’s one that I will just do around the house, just hang out and do a deep squat. And I feel like my hips open up so much, and it takes so much pressure off of my hips and my back when I do squats.

[00:16:57.370] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. And if you’re sitting there like, I can’t even do a squat like they do on TV. I actually followed people on TikTok who taught me how to do a squat again. So I could pull against a bar, like at our playground thing outside and do a squat that way. I use my couch behind me. There are ways to be able to safely get into a squat because I was like, these muscles are never going to come back, but they can. So I would follow people who teach you how to squat better. It’s possible.

[00:17:26.110] – Kaleigh Cohen

Yes. Yeah, absolutely. You said that I just used my dresser last night, actually, because I was like, I need to loosen up my back and my hips here. So deep squat, here we come. So used my dresser for that.

[00:17:36.390] – Hilary Erickson

And when I’m in line at Disneyland, I always am doing deep squats in the line. I’ll hold on to the little bar and I’ll squat down. My body just feels so much better.

[00:17:44.440] – Kaleigh Cohen

It does. It’s like a whole… Yeah, it just takes away all that pressure. I love it.

[00:17:49.820] – Hilary Erickson

You know who doesn’t love it is my teenagers. What are you doing, mom? I’m like, We’re in line.

[00:17:58.460] – Kaleigh Cohen

That’s too funny. I’ll remember that then when I have teenagers. No low squats in the Disney Line.

[00:18:05.240] – Hilary Erickson

I’ll remember that. Or do. I’m always like, Let’s do it together. I wouldn’t be embarrassed if you did it right now.

[00:18:11.990] – Kaleigh Cohen

That’s good. Just get them to join the team. There we go.

[00:18:14.620] – Hilary Erickson

All right. Thank you so much for coming on. I think people, if you’re not exercising during pregnancy, just start. In fact, if you follow me on Instagram on Pulling Curls, I frequently will be like, I did half of Kaleigh’s workout today because I’m working on heavier weights, and I’m like, I’d rather try… My goal is to try the heavier weights, even if I only end up doing one of the two reps. So that’s what I aim for lately. There’s no shame in that. I don’t want people to feel bad that they only got through one of them.

[00:18:43.700] – Kaleigh Cohen

Exactly. No. I mean, that’s one more than you would have done. And with the heavier weight, that’s what you want. So I am actually so excited that you said that. That’s awesome.

[00:18:52.520] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. So get started. Come find us on Instagram if you guys have questions or what you could do. Follow Kaleigh. She’s on YouTube. She’s also on Instagram, to give you some ideas. Follow her pregnancy workouts. A lot of them have only been 20 minutes, which I absolutely love.

[00:19:06.100] – Kaleigh Cohen

I’m all about the short workouts. Listen, we don’t have time for all those long workouts. We can get just as much in in 20 minutes. Yeah.

[00:19:13.600] – Hilary Erickson

All right. Thanks for coming on.

[00:19:15.210] – Kaleigh Cohen

Thank you.

[00:19:17.480] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, I hope you guys enjoyed that episode. I think it is so easy to say you’re just too tired to work out when you’re pregnant, and I cannot tell you anymore how much happier you’re going to be if you add some exercise into your pregnancy routine. So be it just some walking, I would recommend strength. Kaleigh’s coming back on to talk about as being a woman, but I would recommend doing it. I think you’re going to be so happy with it.

[00:19:42.590] – Hilary Erickson

Stay tuned. We have some great episodes coming up. We are talking about how I do health care at our house. We’re going to talk about my health share. And then the episode after that, we are talking about signs that your birth might be hard. So stay tuned.

[00:19:55.210] – Hilary Erickson

Thanks for joining us on the Pulling Curls podcast today. If you like today’s episode, please consider reviewing, sharing, subscribing. It really helps our podcast grow. Thank you.

Keywords:

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